A very brief catch up.

Ok, so we may have let the Blog slip a little bit. I guess that is what happens when people come to visit&you get caught up trying 2fit as much as possible in.
In the past month (It sounds long but compaired to the US writers strike that effected a number of your fav tv shows two years ago...my strike was somewhat shorter)...anyway.
In the past month we have managed to do an aweful lot. 11more people flew out 2join us&we played a big frisbee tourney called Kaimana. It was v.fast paced&sadly the pastey white boys...&gal admitted defeat........2the weather anyway. Man was it hot...tho...i don't believe any1 got burnt. Well done team!
We also won an award 4being the most Spirited team (Fairminded&Sportsmanly...is that a word...it is now). It may sound a little naff to those who don't play Ultimate but its a huge part of the game&a real honour...esp in Hawai'i.
Anyway...we moved on to Maui after that and took a very quick tour around the island before moving on to Hilo on the Big Island for yet more Ultimate. I shall skip on as the only people reading this who are interested in ultimate where there...or are bored to death after hearing it from someone who was.
So we start back on the monday after the tourney...
The rent-a-car company had offered 2rent us jeeps 4minimal upgrade cost (brand new wrangler jeeps...sub 200miles on the clock) but they had informed us in no uncertain terms that there were parts of the island you could not take them. (the only parts of the island you need a 4x4 to visit).
At this point, i would like to note that rental companies are idiots. Why would a group of guys...&girl (sorry Lou)...who are travelling on a budget agree 2pay more money for a 4x4, with worse fuel consumption than a regular car, if they wer only planning on driving to locations regular cars can go.
Thus my conclusions...idiots. And wer wern't going on 4x4 roads with regular cars...again.
With this in mind we set off...to the top of Mauna Kea :-p We had to wait for an hour at basecamp (9000ft) to acclamate. Bags of chrisps were either burst or sevearly swollen.
Some people handled the altitude better than others. The most common symptom was nausia&a strange dizzyness.
In tough conditions like this you have to keep an eye out for your travelling buddies...and mess with them when possible.
Marco was taking it a little worse than the rest of us so when he eventually returned from the visitor centre we had a wee chat...and whilst talking, slowely, one by one started 2walk until we wer all spinning round him. Sadly this had the opposite effect than we where hoping for. It induced laughter in him&increased dizzyness in us. Altitude effects different people in different ways. Turns out it brings out my immaturity :-p
After a few overheating engines due to lack of oxygen in the air (they shouldn't allow rental cars on this road...haha) we reached the top. The view of the obsevatories,13000ft up...above the blanket of clouds. Scenery was more breathtaking than the lack of oxygen. We wil put up a few photos but yet again neither words nor photos could ever do justice to the experience of watching the sun set from this location. The only land visible was Mauna Loa&the top of Haleakala Crater (Maui).
For our last few days with the guys we hit a few more cool locations...hot springs complete with fish that actually bite you...Volcano National Park with bizzare Pagan ceramonies deap underground in lava tubes (we didn't partake...we stumbled across it, 30people, lit only by candlelight who appeared out of the park as we turned a corner of this underground tunnel...pretty scary)...black&green sand beaches...and lots more. Sadly when we reached Kona is was time for the guys to leave so we said our goodbyes&booked into a hotel (you need it after 5weeks of camping). This was fairly fortunate as we were awoke just after midnight with the word that there had been a massive earthquake in Chile&there may be a series of Tsunami on their way across the Pacific. 45mins later this was upgraded from 'may be' to 'definatly' which is always good to hear when you are sleeping less than 50m from the sea in a Tsunami Evacuation Area. We were told that it wouldnt hit for hours&we should get some sleep as the evac alarms would sound a 6am....and that they did. I will be v.happy never to hear that sound again. It sounded on the hour...every hour... up to the arrival. We wer collected by bus around 9am&taken to higher ground. We could only bring 1small bag with us so there rest of our gear had been moved to a higher floor of our hotel.
We waited...and waited...and watched...and waited. The waters rose&dropped by a foot or two repeatedly but that was it. Hawaiis first statewide Tsunami warning had been for 2ft (3ft in Hilo). Better safe than sorry i guess.
Since that excitement we have been back in the water! Swimming with Green Sea Turtles, Puffer fish, Manta Rays...you know...the usual.
We hav just made our way back over to Hilo.
Plans for today is a hair cut and read my book in the Park. A day away from Tsunami&Lava Flows&minor earthquakes would be nice..tho in Hawai'i there are no guarentees. Haha.
Stil having a great time in Paradise, miss you all&look forward to seeing every1 again...it a little while. Not quite ready for home yet! Haha.